


Pain Gives Me The Right To Be Unkind

by BadHidingSpot



Series: Billy Joins The Squad [3]
Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Hand Jobs, Keeping Quiet, M/M, Misogyny, billy is a thirsty bitch, gay williams gotta stick together, phone sex kinda, pressure into sex, tease
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-09
Updated: 2018-12-31
Packaged: 2019-09-14 14:10:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 11,263
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16914339
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BadHidingSpot/pseuds/BadHidingSpot
Summary: ”What’s going on with Billy?”Steve freezes. Like maybe if he keeps perfectly still Jonathan will just ask a different question. “He’s...a psycho sexual denim clad nightmare?””I mean he hasn’t been-like,” Jonathan sighs in frustration, “he’s been quiet. Is all. I noticed. And there was this weird thing with Will today.””With Will? Your brother Will?””No, Will Shakespeare. Yeah my brother Will.””Don’t get snippy. We know like six Williams.””Look Billy was weird at the mall, okay? And super weird after the mall. He was hounding me and Nancy about The Upside Down and stuff. Remember?”Steve unconsciously swallows as he dries his hands. His doorbell rings. Then again. He puts a finger in his free ear and hopes that his guest will just come around the back.”Yeah he was all over me about it too.””Then he just stopped though. Like he got distracted by something.”





	1. I'd Get What I Want If I'd Make Up My Mind

**Author's Note:**

> Well I have accidentally come up with a lot of plot stuff for this universe so I guess I'm going to be writing a lot of things in it. Also I'm sorry I don't write sex scenes but trust me I do that as a favor to you guys. I am terrible with sex scenes. Like I could write a sex scene using all the words I know and it would be worse than someone else using only emojis. So instead I just write build up.

February 22nd 1985-Friday

* 

Steve isn’t expecting a call this evening, although he is expecting a visitor, so when his phone rings he jumps and almosts drops the cheese knife. It’s part of his mother’s ever increasing collection of novelty cheese knives that she doesn’t use but somehow keeps acquiring from each trip she and his father go on. They go on a lot of trips. This particular cheese knife is designed to look like a tiny woodcutter’s axe and it’s Steve’s favorite because he finds it kind of hilarious. _Like cutting cheese logs_ he always thinks, when he uses it, and that makes him laugh every time. 

When one is alone as much as Steve Harrington is, with only his mother’s cheese knife collection to keep him company, well he has to make his own fun. 

He does not, thankfully, drop the woodcutter cheese knife. He catches it, albeit awkwardly and this creates a small cut on his palm but it doesn’t draw blood. 

Another ring and Steve is already grappling for the phone. He’s not sure who would be calling but if anyone is calling him at all, it must be important. 

”Hello?” 

”Steve, hey, it’s me,” Jonathan greets and Steve finds himself sighing in relief because for a brief instant he’d imagined it was Billy calling to cancel. Billy is so antsy lately. When Billy gets antsy he gets handsy and, although Steve is starting to like that part more and more, lately Billy was getting pretty insistent. 

”Hey Johnny. Everything okay?” 

”Yeah. Sort of. I mean no one is dead or anything.” 

”Always so positive.” Steve cradles the phone between his ear and shoulder and moves to the sink to wash his small cut. He can’t even see it anymore but when the soap hits it he sure does feel it. 

”What’s going on with Billy?” 

Steve freezes. Like maybe if he keeps perfectly still Jonathan will just ask a different question. “He’s...a psycho sexual denim clad nightmare?” 

”I mean he hasn’t been-like,” Jonathan sighs in frustration, “he’s been quiet. Is all. I noticed. And there was this weird thing with Will today.” 

”With Will? Your brother Will?” 

”No, Will Shakespeare. Yeah my brother Will.” 

”Don’t get snippy. We know like six Williams.” 

”Look Billy was weird at the mall, okay? And super weird after the mall. He was hounding me and Nancy about The Upside Down and stuff. Remember?” 

Steve unconsciously swallows as he dries his hands. His doorbell rings. Then again. He puts a finger in his free ear and hopes that his guest will just come around the back. 

”Yeah he was all over me about it too.” 

”Then he just stopped though. Like he got distracted by something.” 

The doorbell stops after ring number six and is then followed by impatient knocking. 

”Is someone at your door?” 

”Yeah it’s just the pizza guy. He can wait.” Steve turns his back to the foyer as if not looking at his front door will make the sound go away. “So Billy’s chilled out about the Upside Down. What’s the problem?” 

” _That’s_ the problem. _Why_?” 

”Maybe he just found, you know,” Steve feels his ears turning red, “something to occupy his time.” 

Steve jumps when there’s a knock at his patio glass door. It’s Billy, wearing those stupid fucking sunglasses and chewing gum, just leaning on the glass like he doesn’t care that he’ll get handprints on it. 

He probably doesn’t care. 

Billy grins and gives Steve a little four fingered wave then blows him a kiss. 

Steve’s ears get redder. “I’ve been hanging out with him a bit.” 

”Has he hurt you?” 

Steve’s eyes glaze over a little thinking of harsh bites and cigarette burns between panting dry humping. 

”I’m fine. It’s not like it was at your place. The night El came back and everything.” 

Billy, impatient, starts pulling at the handle, jiggling the glass door loudly and when it doesn’t yield, he starts to knock on the glass door. 

”Pizza guy again?” Jonathan asks. 

Steve emphatically waves a hand at Billy and holds up one finger signaling that Billy can wait a goddamn minute for Steve to get off the phone. 

”Yeah but he’s fine. I won’t tip him.” 

”You gotta tip those guys Steve. They aren’t compensated for the gas on deliveries.” 

”What? Seriously?” This is kind of a shock to Steve. That is until compared to the next shock he sees: 

Billy has his crowbar now and is mid swing into the glass door. 

Steve bolts, scrambles, slips, and pulls the phone cord too tight to get to the door. He opens it before Billy can do any damage. Steve glares. 

”Jesus!” He hisses. “Can you wait one fucking minute? I’m on the phone.” 

Billy steps inside, steps into Steve’s space, and ignoring how annoyed Steve clearly is (or possibly enjoying it) he hooks an index finger into one of Steve’s belt loops and pulls his hips close. 

”I was bored,” Billy explains and Steve can see his own vein popping out of his forehead in the reflection of Billy’s sunglasses. 

Steve puts the phone back to his ear and tries to walk back towards the cradle so the cord isn’t stretching but Billy is holding tight to his pants. What ensues is an awkward drag of Billy along with him towards the phone cradle. 

Jonathan is still talking. “And Will says he just got real close and real quiet until the kid cried. Like he threatened that kid or something for _Will_.” 

”Who? What? Billy?” Steve looks at the man in question who has removed his sunglasses and lets go of Steve’s belt loop so he can pop a slice of gouda into his mouth. Billy’s eyes smile because he loves to be talked about. 

”Yes. Billy. Billy Hargrove. Aren’t you listening?” 

_Who is that_? Billy mouths. Steve, forgetting that this did not work mere minutes before, again waves his hands at Billy to wait, be quiet, he’s on the phone. 

”Yeah, Johnny, yeah I’m listening. I just missed some of that. Billy beat up some kid?” 

_Tell him I said “hi”_ Billy mouths and Steve rolls his eyes. Billy doesn’t want Jonathan to know he’s at Steve Harrington’s house anymore than Steve does. 

”He threatened some kids that were calling Will ‘zombie boy’ and then told Will he should try charcoal.” 

”Charcoal? Like...smoking it?” 

Billy snorts. 

”No like-what? No, Steve. As a medium. As a way to like, do his drawings.” A pause. “Oh god Steve tell me you haven’t tried smoking charcoal?” 

”I haven’t!” Steve’s a little offended Jonathan would even ask that. Suddenly there’s a warm hand snaking up under Steve’s shirt as Billy encroaches on him, pushing and pinning him between Billy’s body and the wall. “So he beat up-I mean he threatened-” Steve is having trouble focusing on whatever it was that Billy did earlier that day because of what Billy is doing right that second: nibbling desperately at the lobe of Steve’s free ear. It stings and Steve can’t hold back a little hiss of pain. He puts his hand on Billy’s chest and tries to push him off. 

”He stood up for Will. Just out of nowhere. It’s weird.” 

”Okay so it’s,” Steve bites down on a shutter as that annoying hand dips under his belt, “a little unusual but not bad, right? Like ultimately that’s nice?” 

”I think Billy’s been body snatched.” 

Steve can’t really process that. Not only because he’s not sure what Jonathan means, but also because Billy is moaning “pretty boy” and “so bored” into his other ear while Steve tries to get Billy’s hands out of his pants. “Fucking-!” 

”Steve?” 

In an act of authority, Steve grabs Billy by the back of his hair and twists pulling him down hard. The actions of affection and distraction cease. Glancing down, Steve can see Billy smiling and licking his lips, his eyes locked on Steve’s face. 

”Johnny, this isn’t a good time, okay? I’m sure it’s just, like, he had a change of heart or something. Or he thinks ‘zombie boy’ is so painfully unclever he felt he needed to knock a kid down a peg. Or fuck man, maybe he just really likes charcoal.” Steve let’s go and Billy looks like he’s disappointed by this. “I can ask him about it though. If you’re really worried.” 

Jonathan sighs heavily again and Steve is concerned because he’d hoped that after all this time Jonathan might learn to take it easy once in a while. “Okay,” Jonathan relents, “you’re right. It’s probably nothing. We’re on for tomorrow right?” 

”Yeah.” 

Billy stands away from Steve now, going to the fridge to grab a beer, he even gets one for Steve while he’s there. 

”We’re thinking 8:30? So we can have the whole day. Dustin said you’d bring donuts?” 

Steve rolls his eyes. “Of course he said that. Punk.” 

Billy cocks an eyebrow and points to himself. Smiling with pleasure he mouths “me?” and looks sincerely disappointed when Steve shakes his head. 

”You don’t have to,” Jonathan laughs a little. Jonathan thinks Steve Harrington acting like a mother hen to his little brother’s D&D crew is hilarious. 

Billy is up in Steve’s space again, pressing him into the wall again, but now with a new weapon, the cold beer bottle, he can make even more of a nuisance of himself. He presses the cold glass to Steve’s stomach and moans as Steve squirms trying to get away from it. 

Steve keeps his tone steady, at least, he hopes he does. “It’s fine. I’m picking him up anyway.” 

Billy’s hot breath is in his ear, a stark contrast to the cold bottle slipping down into his pants. Steve doesn’t know if he’s annoyed or turned on but that is a constant question when Billy Hargrove gets bored. 

”Nancy and I will ride with Mike and Will.” 

”Good,” Steve coughs, “good.” 

”Who’s good?” Billy whispers, “am I good?” 

Steve tries pushing Billy away again but the man is like a brick wall when he wants to be. So when Billy doesn’t yield Steve goes for the next best thing and grabs the bottle pulling the cold but quickly warming glass out of his pants. Billy is quick to replace it with his hand, diving it much lower. 

”Let me touch it,” Billy whines. 

”And I think Max said she was riding with Lucas. Oh and El says she’s going to meet us there. I think she has to sneak out but it’s not a long walk for her.” 

”Thats-okay-yeah,” Steve closes his eyes like maybe if he isn’t _watching_ he can focus on whatever the fuck it is Jonathan is saying. 

”Thank you,” Billy purrs using the “permission” to clasp his hand around Steve’s cock. Steve yelps and jumps because Billy’s hand is _cold_. 

”Steve?” 

Steve puts his hand over the receiver and hisses, “Not you, asshole!” 

An unnecessary thing to say because from Billy’s grin it’s obvious he knew what trick he was playing. It’s also obvious that if he’d gotten real permission or not was irrelevant because he keeps his hand on Steve’s hardening cock and starts pumping. 

”I’m fine,” Steve bites down hard on his cheek to keep himself steady. He can’t think of anything more disgusting or embarrassing than coming on the phone with his ex’s new squeeze. 

Ugh. Steve hates that word: “squeeze” but it was the only one on his mind because of Billy’s goddamn _hand_ where it isn’t supposed to be. 

”There’s a stray cat. Outside. It startled me.” 

As a response to this Billy fucking _purrs_ into Steve’s ear. 

”I have to go. Now. I have to. The pizza and the cat and all.” 

”Right. Sure. See you tomorrow.” Steve slams the phone back onto the hook and snarls at Billy. But now that he’s free, now that his attention isn’t divided, he lets his hips roll into the motions of Billy’s hand. 

And then Billy takes his hand out, pulls away, and leans lazily against the counter taking a long drink of his beer. 

Steve’s face is red with humiliation and anger (and just a lot of horniness). 

”You’re an asshole,” Steve grits out. 

”It’s rude to keep a guest waiting outside.” 

”That was barely five minutes,” Steve runs his hand through his hair to straighten it; hopes it’s not too mussed from being flattened and moved against his kitchen wall. He snaps up the beer Billy got out for him and takes a sip. 

”What’d Byers want?” 

”He wanted to know why you beat up some kid for Will?” 

Billy shrugs one shoulder and takes a long drink of his beer before answering. “Felt like a thing to do.” 

Steve can already tell he’s not going to get more of an answer than this. 

”How come Byers has your home number and I don’t?” Billy makes his face into a pout, not a real one, something to mock Steve. 

”Its’ for _emergencies_.” 

”That was an emergency?” Before Steve can retort Billy steps close to him, not against him or pushing him, but close enough that they can smell each other. Close enough to be intimate and remind Steve that he’s still really hard right now. “I’ve got something more pressing than _that_. Than me jostling some shit kid.” 

Steve punches Billy in the shoulder, hard, the one that has a burn mark from Steve saving his life. Billy winces, but smiles like he’s delighted by it. He doesn’t pull back either, like maybe he’s hoping it’ll happen again if he keeps close. 

”You aren’t a guest. Guests have to be invited,” Steve says this knowing that even though he only technically invited Billy over one time, him dropping by in the evenings to cure his “boredom” has become a regular appointment. Every day except Tuesdays and Thursdays because Billy has some thing he has to do that he can’t get away from those days. 

”If I’m not invited,” Billy laughs grabbing up another slice of gouda and popping it into his mouth, “then why is there a cheese plate?” Even Billy Hargrove knows that a proper host always has snacks provided. 

”It’s for strays,” Steve huffs and shifts himself away from Billy who only follows like he’s on a leash that Steve isn’t aware he’s holding. “I need a cold shower,” Steve mutters. 

Billy whines. A sincere whine this time and Steve whirls around because he’s so damn curious to see what an actual pout on Billy Hargrove’s face looks like. 

He doesn’t get to. Billy is already grinning again, only breaking it open to lick his bottom lip. “What for? You shouldn’t waste it.” 

Steve throws his arms up in frustration. Billy is fucking with him. Billy is always fucking with him but for some reason it’s starting to wind Steve up too tight. Like if he doesn’t uncoil some way some how he’ll snap. “You were just-you pulled-fuck you!” Steve grits out and then presses his palms into his eyes and sighs, still angry but much less venomous, “You’re so _mean_ ”. He regrets saying it because of how childish he sounds. Like Billy kicked over his sandcastle or some shit. 

”So I am,” Billy says and Steve hears the sound of the beer bottle being placed on the counter. Billy takes Steve by the wrists and lowers his hands from his eyes. Steve doesn’t want to, he’s so embarrassed and he’s probably red in the face, but he has to look at Billy. Billy _demands_ to be looked at. “You want me to be nice? I’ll be nice. You want a shower?” He drops Steve’s wrists and pulls off his henley letting it drop at Steve’s feet, “I’ll give you shower.” Again Steve feels a sense of pride to _not_ stare because it’s just what Billy wants so he turns his face away. He feels like he’s fighting a battle against his own eyes that keep trying to drift over. How can Billy have lived in Indiana this long and still be so fucking _tan_? “Come on, Harrington,” Billy clearly isn’t deterred by Steve looking away; in fact he seems spurred on by it, like it’s a game. He steps closer and start to work at the button and zipper on Steve’s pants. Actually drags them down a little. 

”The window-” 

”No one’s gonna see,” Billy chuckles, “no one but us for miles.” Since Steve won’t look at him, since Steve is keeping his face pointed away, Billy has to take advantage of that. He has to punish Steve a little for not gazing at him. He starts to nibble at Steve’s ear and delights when Steve fumbles a bit, his knees going weak. 

”Fine,” Steve gulps, “you need a shower anyway.” 

Billy’s reply is an enticing moan against Steve’s jaw as he backs him into the living room. Steve’s legs hit the end of the coach and he turns to face Billy now. Now they’re kissing and Billy is running his hands up and down Steve’s chest beneath his shirt. Billy kisses up Steve’s jaw. Steve feels a little lost in it, like maybe this is the only thing that has ever existed. He certainly can’t think of anything that was happening _before_ this and if he tries to pinpoint something that might happen _after_ it’s just steam and sweat and heat, the picture of Billy rutting against him. 

That is until Steve hears the annoyingly familiar sound of Billy pulling a condom out of the back pocket of his jeans. 

”Stop!” It’s a command, a shout, and much less panicked than the few times he’s had to say it before because now it’s a matter of principle. Of pride. He probably would have relented sooner, in fact Steve has _wanted_ to relent sooner if Billy wouldn’t push the goddamn issue. He shoves Billy away from him. 

Billy rolls his eyes with his whole body and groans in annoyance. “Fuck christ, princess,” the blue Trojan packet is nestled comfortably between his ring and index finger, “what’s the big deal?” 

”I don’t want to, okay?” 

Billy snorts and nods at the bulge in Steve’s pants. “Sure.” 

”Look I,” Steve huffs, “we can do the other stuff. But I’m not ready.” 

”So this is what dating a fucking _girl_ is like,” Billy is all actual mean-ness now, not just his usual brand of sexual mean-ness. 

”Fuck off, Hargrove,” and Steve shoves him again because he’s really, for some reason, just really fucking offended by that. “Why you gotta push this every time?” 

”Why are you making it such a big deal?” Billy slides the condom back into his pants and Steve wonders if it’s been the same one the last four times Billy has tried to sneak it on. 

”It’s kind of a big deal.” 

”It’s not. Really.” 

”I’ve never-with a guy-” 

”I told you you could be on top,” and because Steve’s face reddens at this, it gives Billy some kind of permission to step up against him, to put his hand on Steve’s thigh and his teeth on Steve’s neck. “You’d like that, yeah? It’s tight and warm, trust me.” 

And that’s the problem there: Steve doesn’t actually trust Billy. Attracted to? Definitely. Steve even likes his company most of the time. But trust is different. What Billy wants is a thing that can only come out of trust. Steve’s stomach sinks because he thinks about Nancy, about what a dog he was chasing after her and sneaking into her window. Like something was going to happen while her parents were home. While her little brother slept in the next room. The shame is enough to deflate some of his hardness and he wiggles out of Billy’s attentions. 

”Can we drop it? You’re killing my mood.” 

There’s something about the way that Steve has pulled himself away from Billy that makes him relent. He sighs, loudly, puts as much disappointment into it as he can because Steve better _know_ how fucking disappointed Billy is. “Fine. Whatever. Didn’t bring lube anyway.” He says that, and in fact has said it the last four times too, and Steve is pretty sure it’s a lie because he’s seen a bottle of the stuff resting inside Billy’s gym bag. Billy starts to strip the rest of his clothes off and make his way up the stairs to Steve’s bedroom. He tosses his jeans at Steve and snorts out a laugh when they hit him in the face. “Shower or not Harrington?” He calls back but Steve is already following him up the stairs stripping his own clothes.


	2. Bring it on baby, what's with sudden devotion?

Saturday February 23rd 1985 

* 

Billy is so used to waking up at 5 a.m. now that he doesn’t even need the beep of his digital watch to tell him to wake up. Time to pull himself out of Steve’s embrace. Time to shower off whatever mess they’d made of themselves. Time to change and get home in time to do a run around his block, just so he could come in right after Neil had woken up. Neil wouldn’t know Billy had been out all night. He’d just suspected that he’d gotten up early to work out. Billy had been pulling this off flawlessly for weeks, since he and Harrington had started. 

What’s different about this morning is that, as Billy pulls his briefs on, dripping still from the shower, Steve actually wakes up. 

Billy watches as Steve turns in bed, hand patting and grasping for Billy in the spot where he’d fallen asleep. 

”Billy?” Steve says, his voice heavy with sleep. 

”Shh,” Billy comes over and kneels next to Steve, petting his hair sweetly, “go back to sleep.” 

”Whattimeisit?” Steve groans. 

”It’s about five. Too early for you.” 

”You’re going?” Steve rubbs at his eyes and props himself up on his elbows. Billy smiles. “Don’t go yet. You should eat. I’ll make something.” Steve sits up to get out of bed but Billy pushes him back down. 

”I don’t have time. I have to get back before my dad wakes up.” But as a reward for the offer, for the kindness, and because he sincerely regrets that he _can’t_ stay to have Steve make him breakfast, he kisses him warmly. Billy dolles out warm kisses very seldom, most kisses with Steve have to be harsh, quick, and heated. Not this time though. Not with Steve’s hair adorably mussed and his groggy care taking instincts shining through. 

”I can at least,” he pauses to yawn, “coffee. Make you coffee.” 

Billy chuckles. “Nah. I’m good. Really. I gotta go. But sleep.” He pecks Steve’s forehead with a kiss and stands. 

”Okay, yeah,” Steve says lazily as he lays back down, “See you later today?” 

Billy pauses to think about this and shruggs. “Not sure. I gotta take Max to the arcade at like 8.” 

Steve is coming into full waking now and he sits back up. “What? No. She’s got-oh fuck.” Steve slapps his palm against his forehead. “Fuck man I forgot to tell you.” 

Billy pulls on his running shorts not bothering to look for the previous days clothes. Steve always washes them for him and gives them back and Billy preferres that because it makes him smell like Steve. “Forgot to tell me what?” 

”There’s a thing. Today. We’re doing a thing. In the woods. There’s like some mysterious animal stuff with The Upside Down. We’re all meeting up at 8:30.” 

Billy glares. “We?” 

”Yeah like Max and the kids and Johnny, Nance, and me. And El. You’ll get to meet El.” 

”Why am I just hearing about this now?” The tight anger in Billy’s voice seems to jolt the final remnants of sleep out of Steve. 

”Because I forgot until just now?” 

”When did you guys plan this?” 

”I don’t know. Like Tuesday?” 

”Tuesday?!” Billy is shouting now. “Fucking Tuesday you guys made a plan and you’re only just now inviting me?” 

”I meant to tell you but I don’t see you Tuesdays. I forgot.” 

”Fuck you,” Billy spits out, “you forgot. Someone remembered to invite Max.” 

”She’s inner circle.” 

”And I’m not?” 

”What’s the big deal? I’m inviting you now.” 

Billy scoffs. “Yeah with three fucking hours for me to plan. Fuck you, Harrington. What if I’d been busy? What if my dad had asked me to do something?” 

”You’d just bail? Like the rest of us?” 

”Un-fucking-believable.” 

Steve is about to stand up when he remembers that he’s naked and gross under his comforter so he settles for planting his feet on the ground and covering his stomach. “So what? Do you have plans with your dad?” 

”No. But next time I might. And I can’t just ditch my dad when he wants me to do shit.” 

Steve shrugs. “Okay? Then, you miss out?” 

Billy grabs the first thing he can, a basketball trophy from Steve’s league in the fourth grade, and throws it at Steve. Steve only just in time lifts his hand to block it. 

”Hey!” Steve yells because Billy really could have hurt him just now. Could have broken a window or something. 

”You know what this stuff means to me,” Billy yells, “you know it’s important to me to be there. To do shit. And you’re going to drag my step sister into this dangerous shit and-and-and” Billy pauses to draw in breath, he’d stopped breathing for a moment, “Just fuck you, Harrington. Fuck you to hell.” 

”I’m sorry?” Steve says it like a question because he’s really not sure why Billy is so angry. Why fucking around with the upside down is so important. 

Billy grabs his shirt and pulls it on storming out of the house and making sure to slam the door hard on his way out. 

”Fuck you too,” Steve mutters to himself looking down into the blank face of the little gold painted man making a dunk on his trophy. 

* 

8:25 a.m. 

Max was not pleased when she got into the camaro and Billy asked her what part of the woods they were all meeting in. To her credit she tried to play it off, like she didn’t know what Billy was talking about, she was going to the arcade. It wasn’t until he said he’d pick up Lucas that she finally dropped the act. 

Now, with the three of them waiting at the edge of the woods, Billy sitting on the hood of his car and the two kids whispering to each other at Lucas’s bike, Billy begins to resent that Max had not been told about The Mall. That he’d helped destroy an entire species _and_ kept it a secret and somehow word had not gotten around to the children that he’d helped. 

He takes a deep breath. He’s antsy for a fight, for a stroll through the woods on a _hunt_ , but mostly he antsy for Steve to arrive. 

”Where the fuck is everyone?” Billy asks with annoyance. Max rolls her eyes. 

”I don’t know, Billy. I got here the exact same time as you remember?” 

”It was 8 right?” Billy checks his digital watch the numbers glowing 8:25 at him. “Like we got all fucking day.” 

Technically he and Max do have all day. Because Neil told Billy to stick with Max all day. And because Max told Niel that she’d like to be out until maybe 9 p.m. And Neil ruffled her hair and said “sure honey” and Billy thought he was going to be sick. 

”Steve’s almost never late. I’m sure Dustin is just keeping him,” Lucas explains. For a kid who kicked him in the family jewels, Sinclaire sure still acts like he’s afraid of Billy. Lucas hides behind Max whenever he speaks to him and only looks at Billy when he thinks Billy isn’t paying attention. 

But Billy is always paying attention when he’s being watched. 

Even now with his eyes plastered to the road waiting with twitching eagerness for Steve to show up, he knows that Lucas and Max are staring at him. Whispering about him too. Wondering why the hell he’s here and he seems to know stuff. 

The anger with Steve has almost dissipated. Billy’s still annoyed that he was almost left out of plans, that Steve doesn’t seem to _get_ why that would upset him. But he’s had three and a half hours now of anticipation for a romp in the woods with Steve and Billy always finds a way to work his frustration out on Harrington one way or another. 

He’s planning ways to be frustrating when the beemer pulls up and, without waiting for it to come to a full stop, Dustin rushes out and up to Max. His excitement, his run, both slow to a complete stop when he notices Billy is there. 

Billy takes out a pack of cigarettes and lights one. He nods to Dustin. “Hey.” 

”Uh, hey, Billy,” Dustin looks panicked first at Lucas then Max. Lucas shrugs. Max shakes her head. Steve is fumbling with something inside his car. 

Billy offers the pack of smokes to the kids. 

Max scrunches her nose up in disgust and Lucas shakes his head quickly. “No thanks,” he stutters, “I don’t smoke.” 

”Never too young to start,” Billy says offering the pack to Dustin who, feigning coolness, puts his hand up. 

”I would but, you know, trying to cut back,” Dustin flashes a smile at Max who looks, rightfully, unimpressed. 

Billy laughs. “Yeah. Sure kid.” 

Finally, Harrington approaches carrying a box of doughnuts with four coffees balanced on top and a plastic bag full of juice bottles swinging from his arm. 

Max and Lucas practically rush him grabbing for the doughnuts. 

”I’m starved,” Lucas complains getting the box out just as Steve picks the coffees off of it. 

”Did you get bear claws?” Max asks pawing open the box. 

”The jelly ones are mine!” Dustin claims. 

Billy admires Steve in his raybans and thermal shirt which does not cover the marks Billy left on his neck. 

”Save some for everyone you damn animals,” Steve gripes coming closer to Billy. 

”Morning Harrington,” Billy greets all sunshine and sex, no hint of his tantrum he threw in Steve’s room only hours ago. 

”Hargrove. Glad you made it.” 

Billy offers a cigarette to Steve who takes one, pauses, looks behind him to see the kids’ frosting covered faces looking at him in wonder, and he puts it back. “Uh no thanks. They hurt my throat.” 

”Well we wouldn’t want that,” Billy teases sliding off the hood of the car and landing in Steve’s space. 

Because this is so uncomfortable for him, being in the same place as Billy and the kids, Steve has to turn away from Billy. 

The kids are still staring at him. 

”What?” Steve asks, nervous. Could they know something? They must, Billy is so fucking obvious about this shit, calling him “pretty boy” and trying to fuck him while he’s on the phone with Jonathan. 

”What’s wrong with your neck?” Lucas asks like he’s afraid of the answer. 

Steve’s eyes go wide and he slaps his hands to his neck quickly, like that can hide them. 

”It’s--not--don’t worry about it,” He stammers. Billy stands a little straighter, proud. 

”Is it a rash?” Dustin asks with concern. Steve shakes his head. 

”Oh my god,” Max says her voice thick with a distinctly Californian accent as she says those three words, “they’re hickeys.” 

”What?” Dustin asks and Billy laughs very loud and claps his hands. 

”Well well, Harrington, you dog,” he slaps Steve on the shoulder, “look at you. Getting back in the saddle. About time you moved on from Nancy.” 

Steve’s eyes lock on Billy’s. Billy’s are dancing with delight, Steve are glaring with anger. 

”Yeah,” Dustin says, nodding, “good for you, Steve.” He pats Steve lovingly on the elbow, the highest point Dustin can reach, like he’s also super happy Steve is moving on from Nancy even though it seems Dustin still has no idea what hickeys are. 

”They look like bite marks,” Lucas observes getting closer to Steve’s neck like he’s fascinated by them. It’s clear he knows what hickeys are, but that this is possibly his first time seeing them in real life. 

”Yeah,” Billy asks with mock interest and grabs Steve by the chin. He turns his head up, forces his face close to observe his own handy work, “looks like you’ve got a biter on your hands, pretty boy.” 

Steve’s ears are red and he shoves Billy off of him. “That’s private,” he grumbles. 

To Steve’s relief and Billy’s dismay, Jonathan’s beat up piece of junk pulls up next to Steve’s car and the other two rascals spill out coming straight for the doughnuts. 

Nancy and Jonathan are behind them, carrying backpacks of supplies and Billy drowns out the sound of the kids’ conversation, even though it is about him. (What’s he doing here? Who invited him? Do we have to ditch him? Did you see Steve’s neck?) 

Nancy pecks Steve on the cheek in greeting and Jonathan takes the plastic bag off of Steve’s arm. Billy glares at Jonathan. He hates how fucking _helpful_ this asshole is. 

”I see you invited him,” Nancy says eyeing Billy with contempt. He holds his arms out, presenting himself. 

”Happy to see you too, Wheeler. Build any good bombs lately?” 

Steve picks up a coffee and hands it to Billy. “Half and half two sugars, right?” 

Billy doesn’t take it. He eyes it with suspicion. Steve rolls his eyes and takes a drink of the coffee and then offers it to Billy again. “No drugs. Just coffee.” 

”Well sure,” Billy teases, “but now it’s got your germs on it, Harrington.” Billy winks at Steve. “I don’t know where your mouth has been.” 

Steve flushes with the embarrassment and anger of a man who knows that Billy knows _exactly_ where his mouth has been. 

Jonathan-helpful-as-fuck-Byers reaches for the coffee. “It’s okay Steve, I’ll take it.” 

Billy is quick, slaps Jonathan’s hand away, and snatches the coffee for himself. “Uh uh, Byers. That’s mine. Mitts off.” And Billy takes a big long gulp from the coffee. It _does_ have the perfect amount of half and half in it. 

Byers doesn’t react other than to put his hand up. Steve gives Jonathan his own coffee, “Black,” he says, and then hands one to Nancy, “Extra milk, shot of espresso, and foam.” 

”It’s called a latte,” Nancy corrects taking it and smiling in gratitude, “thanks.” 

”And then one for me and juice for the kids.” Steve looks around. “El isn’t here yet?” 

”Mike was on the radio with her just before we left. She should be here,” Nancy explains looking around them as if the girl is going to fall down from a tree. 

She does not. She walks up from behind one a little ways away and Mike is the first to spot her, the first to run over and greet her, and only after about thirty seconds is followed by the others. 

She has short brown hair. She is taller than Max. After this, Billy becomes bored of her and turns his attention back to Steve. 

”So when are we going to ditch these guys? We’re not seriously going to fight monsters with a bunch of twerps?” 

”We’re not fighting anything,” Steve explains, “if you’d stuck around I could have told you. This is just recon. Investigating.” 

Billy glares, that anger from Steve’s bedroom rising in him again, “If you had just told me sooner you could have said that.” 

”I said I was sorry,” Steve hisses. 

”Who?” the little girl asks appearing, like magic, at Billy’s elbow and he jumps a little. 

”What?” He asks. 

”You. Who?” 

Billy looks at her, then at Steve who offers him nothing, so he turns to Max who just motions that he should answer this girl’s question. 

”I’m Billy.” 

”Friend?” 

”Sure,” He says offering her a cigarette, “friend. Want one.” 

El reaches to take it but Mike is there very quickly to push her hand away. “No, El,” he says urgently, “bad. They make you cough.” 

”Bad?” El asks looking at Billy almost incredulous. 

Billy takes a long drag of his cigarette and then blows the smoke up, into the air, and sighs deep and satisfied by the burning in the back of his throat. “Oh yeah,” he looks back down at her, “very very bad.” 

”El did you get a doughnut?” Steve asks offering the box to her. “Hop’s gonna be pissed I introduced you to these.” 

El takes a glazed from the remaining ones in the box and Billy wonders why everyone is watching her with such heavy interest as she eats it. 

After her first bite she becomes ravenous and scrounges it down. Steve is there to hand her a bottle of milk when she’s done and she drinks greedily from that too. 

”Oh!” Billy snaps his fingers and points at El with recognition, “you’re like that feral Carrie girl yeah?” 

”No,” El shakes her head and points to herself, “Eleven. El. Jane. Not Carrie.” 

”Right,” Billy laughs a little, “yeah sure. Me Billy you Jane. Got it.” 

”We should split into teams of two,” Mike suggests and gets closer to Jane. “So like two older kids per every three kids.” 

”I’ll go with Nancy,” Jonathan offers, like anyone doubted they would be glued together at the hip, “Will? You want to come with us?” 

”Sure. If Mike wants to?” 

”Yeah,” Mike nods, “and El you can be on our team. We’ll be Alpha team. So-” 

”Max you want to-” 

”Max we should-” 

Dustin and Lucas stumble over each other and Max gives a little smile. Steve hands her an orange juice from his bag and then passes the rest out. 

”So it’s me, Harrington, Max, and her fan club. Great.” Billy groans putting his cigarette out. “I’d rather have the psychic girl on my team.” He goes into the camaro and pulls out his axe, he’s kept it sharp and ready since The Mall, and his crow bar which he promptly tosses to Max. “Watch your back,” he warns her, like he might be the thing that comes at her from behind if she isn’t paying attention. 

”You gonna be okay, Steve?” Jonathan asks, maybe he thinks he’s whispering, “With him?” 

”Yeah,” Steve says, giving Jonathan a kind pat on his hand, “Don’t worry about it Johnny. I’ve got it.” 

”So we’re team Beta?” Lucas asks. 

”Fuck that,” Billy scoffs, “Team Scorpion.” 

”Cool,” Dustin agrees nodding like he’s scared of Billy but also in awe of him. 

”You can’t just-That doesn’t make any sense,” Mike growls. 

”Team names don’t matter,” Steve injects, “we know who is where and we’ve got walkies. Let’s just split up.” 

To kick start this split-up-before-someone-kills-Billy plan, Steve retrieves his nail bat from the car along with his own duffle bag and heads West into the woods. Billy is close behind him. Their three charges pick up pace to run in front of them forming an Orion’s Belt with Max in the middle and the boys on either side. 

Billy puts the axe on his shoulders and loops his arms over it, resting his wrists over either side and mimicking a man in a pillory. 

* 

9:05 a.m. 

”Where’d you get that axe?” Dustin asks falling back to walk between Steve and Billy. Billy wonders how the boy can still have breath to talk, he’s been droning on about Star Wars or some shit for almost twenty minutes. 

Billy doesn’t bother looking down at him. “Stole it. From the mall.” 

”The mall blew up,” Dustin explains. 

Billy rolls his eyes. “Yeah, shit head, I know. I was there.” 

Dustin gasps. 

”You were there? You blew up the mall?” 

”I thought Nancy blew up the mall,” Lucas and Max fall back now too. This conversation seems to interest them. 

”Billy came with us,” Steve explains with some semblance of shame. Good. He should be ashamed. “That’s why he knows about The Upside Down. That’s why I invited him out.” 

” _You_ invited him here?” Max is angry about this. Billy can see her cheeks working towards the same tone as her hair. 

”Dude I can’t believe _you_ violated the code of secrecy!” Dustin is bilidgerant. 

”I didn’t violate-” Steve breaks off in a huff, “he helped us out, okay? And he almost died so-” 

”No I didn’t,” Billy corrects shifting his position out of pillory and just holding the axe over one shoulder. 

”You didn’t help?” 

”I didn’t almost die.” He shrugs one shoulder, all easy angles and sharp teeth grinning at Steve, “I got hurt but I wasn’t going to _die_. Don’t be so dramatic.” 

Steve rolls his eyes. “That venom could have spread through your body in an hour and killed you, Hargrove.” 

”I had an hour?” Billy raises his eyebrows. “I had an hour to get that venom out and you decided to burn the shit out of me in the back of my car?” 

There’s a collection of “woahs” from Lucas and Dustin but Billy doesn’t look at them. He’s trying to figure out if Steve is going to take off his sunglasses or not. Billy hasn’t seen those pretty brown eyes in hours. 

”Did it, like, scar?” Lucas asks. At this Billy does turn to Lucas and he grins. He nods. 

”Oh yeah. Real bad. Wanna see?” 

Steve groans. “Can you keep your shirt on for five minutes?” 

Too late. Billy and the kids have stopped walking and Billy is already pulling his coat and shirt off, brandishing his nasty knife burn at the kids, his eyes locked on Steve. 

”Gnarly,” Dustin gasps, “did it hurt?” 

Billy glares at him. “It was a hot fucking knife strait into my skin, dumbass. Yeah it hurt.” Dustin reaches to touch it and Billy pulls away quickly. Steve finds this strange as Billy is always asking Steve to touch it, run his hands over it, tell Billy what it was like to slide the smooth white hotness into him. Billy puts his shirt back on, then his coat and pushes forward through the woods. 

Dustin whispers to Max, “He’s kind of cool.” 

”No he’s not,” she grumbles moving forward and then rushing past Billy like it’s important that she stays in the lead. And because it’s important to Lucas that he stay close to Max, he rushes ahead too. Dustin hangs back with Steve. 

”So I guess you two made up? After he rearranged your face?” 

”First of all, he cheated,” Steve begins very loudly so that Billy can hear, “he smashed a plate over my fucking head because he knew I was going to win.” 

”Keep telling yourself that, Harrington,” Billy calls back not even turning to grin. Steve can tell he’s grinning. Can somehow see it in his shoulders and the way he carries himself. 

”Second of all,” Steve pauses, he didn’t have a second of all, “if he’s, you know, not with us, he’s against us. And that’s not so great. Having him against us.” Billy doesn’t hear this part, Steve doesn’t think, and he’s glad because he can only imagine the innuendo that would ensue. 

Up ahead Lucas and Max are speaking easily with each other. Lucas wants to take her hand but she’s swinging the crow bar wide and lazily and he’s not sure it’s a good time with her psycho brother just behind them. 

”So are there woods like this in California?” He asks. 

Max smiles. “Yeah. But I was near the beach so I didn’t see them really. Those are more inland. You can go on hikes and stuff though.” 

”You’ve never gone hiking?” 

She shrugs. “It’s a hassle. You’ve got to pack all this gear and stuff. Besides, the wildlife in Cali is all dangerous. My dad has this whole thing about mountain lions.” 

”I’ve never seen a mountain lion,” Lucas offers putting his hands in his pockets. He’s trying to keep himself from rubbing his knuckles against Max’s. He’s not sure she’d like that. “Have you?” 

”In a zoo. Once.” 

”But like, never in the wild? I thought they were all over California.” 

Billy is behind them, suddenly, and closer than Lucas expected, so he jumps when Billy speaks. “If she’d seen a mountain lion, dickhead, she’d be dead.” 

Max glares at Billy, only a little startled by his sudden proximity. 

”What-what do you mean?” Lucas clears his throat. 

”Mountain lions are apex predators,” Billy begins, twirling his axe in one hand causing Lucas to quicken his pace so he can be a few feet from Billy, “and they’re master stalkers.” Billy picks up his pace and gets back into Lucas’s zone of discomfort easily. 

”Leave it alone, Billy.” 

”They pick out their prey and they spend days tracking it, watching it, learning its’ every move.” Lucas turns around now, walks backwards, as if Billy behind him is the thing he needs to keep an eye on and not the obstacles of the forest floor. Billy gets closer, axe still spinning, and he flashes pearly white canines at Sinclaire. “So by the time you see a mountain lion, it’s already been hunting you for three days and,” Lucas’ back hits a tree and Billy hurls the axe into it, sticking it just above Lucas’s head, “can’t run. Too late. It knows your every move.” 

”Fuck off, Hargrove,” Steve says pulling Billy away from Lucas by his jacket. “You’re scaring him.” 

”I-I wasn’t scared,” Lucas fakes a laugh and shrugs as if this is proof. 

”I was a little scared,” Dustin offers, voice small, from next to Steve, “To be honest.” 

”He’s just being a dick,” Max mutters and grabs Lucas by the arm, pulling him away from the tree and Billy, pulling them ahead to talk alone. Dustin rushes forward to be with them again but he walks at least three feet to Max’s side. As if there’s only so much space for him near the Maxine/Lucas bubble. 

”You’re such an asshole,” Steve mutters walking again. Billy falls into step easily beside him. 

”I’m just fucking around. Jeez. They’ve seen worse than fucking _mountain lions_.” 

”They’re still kids, Billy. Can’t you be nice for, like, an hour?” 

”They shouldn’t even be out here. If what we’re looking for is so dangerous. They should be tucked at home sucking off the sweet tit of youth or whatever.” 

”Gross.” 

”You know I’m right.” 

”No, I know you’re bored. And jealous. And a _dick_ but there’s no way I know you’re right. You just don’t want them here.” 

Billy steps in front of Steve, places the flat side of his axe against his chest and stops him. “You think I’m, what? Jealous? Because you’re hanging out with a bunch of kids in the woods instead of me?” 

Steve shrugs. “Yeah. I do.” 

”Well don’t we think highly of ourselves, King Steve?” There’s a glint in Billy’s eyes, one that Steve is familiar with, one he hates and he loves because Billy is about to do something wild and violent. Hopefully something sexual, Steve thinks, glancing down at the axe against his chest. But then hopefully not if the kids are watching. Whatever it is, he doesn’t find out. Because there’s a high-pitched scream that Billy thinks is Max but Steve knows is Dustin and they both rush to the children.


	3. I'd Trade A River Of Tears For Just A Little Emotion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my god this took SO LONG! I'm so sorry. I had half of it written for the longest time but then like, vacation got in the way. Then to top it all off I've come up with like 5 new fic ideas for this fandom. So I've been trading off working on multiple projects at once. Thanks to everyone for the support! I've got a few more things planned in this series but will probably break for a while to work on aforementioned other projects. What I'm saying (warning) is get ready for a ton of Harringrove material from me. I am obsessed and caffeinated. Comments are so loved and appreciated and thanks for reading!

February 23rd-Saturday 

9:25 a.m. 

Billy is faster than Steve but his steps are more erratic, he trips more. Steve is more familiar with the forest terrain and manages to move gracefully enough to keep his sunglasses on even when in motion. 

When they clear the edge of the trees, coming into a small clearing next to the creek, the one that leads into the caves, Steve is ahead and stops first. Billy runs into him and wraps an arm around his waist to keep Steve from falling into the water. 

”Harrington-” 

”What the fuck guys?” Steve yells looking at the three completely unharmed children. Billy’s a little pissed about it too. He thought that scream meant murder and monsters to fight and even though he won’t admit it, he thought Max was in trouble and he’s angry she worried him unnecessarily. He’s also angry the scream interrupted such a private moment with Steve. 

”They shouldn’t be out here,” Billy grumbles approaching the kids. They’re circled around something and Lucas steps aside, pulling Max with him, to let Billy see what they see. What Dustin screamed at. Billy can feel Steve come up behind him. 

It’s a bull carcass. There’s no mystery about that part because it’s perfectly intact. Billy can’t quite place what’s off about it at first. It’s dead, there’s no movement, but there’s something _wrong_ about that. He pokes it with his axe and then circles to the front. 

He grimaces. The chest is split open, throat to groin, in one long surgical line, the ribs and bones holding it open. 

Leaves rustle and Max is next to him. She puts her hand over her mouth like she’s going to vomit. Billy reaches the axe out, puts it under the top of the slice and pushes upwards. 

It’s completely empty inside. 

He stands. “It’s been hollowed out.” 

”What?” Steve says coming around. He motions to Lucas and Dustin to stay but they, of course, don’t listen and are gagging next to Max in seconds. 

“There’s no organs or guts or anything,” Billy continues, “it’s just an empty shell held up by the bones.” 

Steve looks like he doesn’t know what to say. He doesn’t have to; Dustin always has something. 

“It’s like with Han and the Tauntaun,” he gasps. 

“I don’t see it’s guts on the floor,” Lucas adds looking around them, “if they were taken out, where are they?” 

“And what was in there?” Max adds. “And where did it go?” She clutches the crow bar tighter and Billy puts his hand on her shoulder. It doesn’t relax her. She pulls away from him but her grip does loosen. 

“What’s a tauntaun?” Steve asks. 

“Are you serious?” Dustin groans. Steve puts his hands up defensively and shrugs. “Star Wars is like a super famous multi-million dollar franchise. You haven’t seen even _one_ film Steve? Not even one?” 

Billy lights a cigarette walking slowly around the bull again, taking in all the details. Something is off, something more than the empty shell of it. What is it? 

“Excuse me, I’ve seen them I just don’t have every scene memorized, okay? I don’t know the name of every alien-” 

“The tauntaun is the thing that Han and Luke are riding on,” Lucas explains, “and then Han cuts it open and puts Luke inside so he can keep warm.” 

“That scene is gay,” Billy sighs coming back to the front of the bull. The eyes are glassy and open, but white with decay. The body has been out here for at least a day. 

“What?” Dustin asks, whirling on Billy like this statement is more offensive to him than Steve’s “what’s a tauntaun” was. 

Billy blows some smoke out into the eyes of the bull. It feels so strange to look into the eyes of something and feel that it can not look back at you. “Luke and Han are fucking.” 

“Have you not seen the movie?” Dustin rolls his eyes. “Han is with Leia. Luke kind of has a thing for Leia but she’s his sister-” 

“I’ve seen the movie Henderson. Leia’s too good for either of them. They’re fucking hacks and they’re obsessed with each other. That’s precisely _why_ Han goes through so much trouble to save Luke’s life.” 

“But Leia and Han clearly get together at the end-” Dustin starts. 

Billy waves him off. “That’s not going to last. She’ll get with someone more her speed. Someone political and capable.” 

“Such as?” Dustin is fuming with his arms crossed. He stands like Billy can’t possibly have an answer to this question. Like Billy is just making this up to rile him. Part of that is true, but only part. Billy does have an answer. 

“Lando. Obviously.” He drops his cigarette and stomps it out. 

“Lando?!” Dustin shouts. 

“Why doesn’t it smell?” Max asks and Billy snaps his fingers in agreement and points to her. 

“That’s it. That’s what it is,” He says still keeping eyes locked on it. “No flies either. It’s been out here for hours.” 

“There aren’t scavenger marks on it,” Max leans down like she’s going to touch it but Billy pulls her back. “You can touch it but I can’t?” 

“Nobody else is touching it,” Steve sighs. “Lucas call Alpha team. Let them know we found...um...that we found...tell them what we found.” 

Lucas pulls the antenna up on his walkie and walks away from the carcass towards the cave. “Alpha? Come in. This is Scorpion, over.” 

There’s the static of conversation. Billy lets it fade into the background. “Max is right. About scavengers. This is the woods this body should be covered with shit by now. I don’t even hear birds.” 

Steve looks up into the trees as if to find some birds to prove them wrong, but he doesn’t even see squirrels. There’s no movement. 

“Do you think,” Max begins but she pauses to let the shake out of her voice so she can continue, brave and steady, “do you think they’re afraid of it?” 

“Lando though? Really?” 

“Dustin please focus, okay?” Steve begs. 

“It’s like it hatched out,” Billy says pointing to the slit with his axe, making sure Max’s eyeline follows it, “it’s a cut from the inside. You can tell by the way the skin peels outward.” 

“Gnarly,” Max whispers because she’s impressed but she doesn’t want anyone to know exactly how impressed she is. She keeps it ambiguous too; is she impressed with Billy or the way a thing crawled out of this bull. 

“A demogorgon didn’t do it,” Dustin concludes, “those things rip stuff up. They don’t crawl inside it and do, whatever this thing did.” 

Billy looks behind them, keeps a steady eye on Sinclaire as the boy paces back and forth at the mouth of the cave. “Sinclair get the fuck over here,” Billy yells. 

“He’s making a _call_ ,” Max hisses like this is at all an excuse. 

“I know what he’s doing _Maxine_ ,” Billy snaps at her, “he doesn’t need to be fifty feet away to do it.” 

“He’s right,” Steve sighs like he’s loathe to say the words, “Lucas come on back here.” 

Lucas puts his hand up, waves at them to hold on, and after saying something else into the walkie, turns to trot back to them. 

The only sounds in the woods are coming from them and it is a quiet that hangs over Billy. 

“Why wouldn’t it leave a smell?” Max asks Steve. Like Steve knows. Like he’s some kind of secret genius when the only thing he’s done is wrangle children while Billy’s been doing _actual_ detecting. 

But then maybe she’s looking at Steve for comfort because he smiles at her and says, “We’ll ask Hop. He’ll get some answers. Maybe get Dr. Owen out here.” Max nods, a small smiling coming up on her lips and Billy wonders with a quiet amusement if Max has a crush on Steve. Steve opens his mouth to go on but Billy puts his hand over it, stifling him. He means it to be funny, just an excuse to touch Steve while also undermining him. But it opens up a new aspect of the silence. There are only three sounds now: their breathing, different variations but steady and someone quiet, Lucas’ feet in the leaves coming closer, closer, closer, and way back in the distance, behind them, and echoing the sound of hooves on stone. 

Billy drops his hand and turns around slowly. Once Lucas is in reach he pulls him behind him and brings his axe up as he steps toward the cave. Steve is next to him, having pushed Dustin and urged all the kids to stay behind. His bat is up and Billy holds his breath as they walk in perfect step. 

Clip. Clop. 

Clip. Clop. 

It sounds like the ticking of a Dali Clock, warped, tired, but steady and persevering. 

Billy and Steve stop about five feet from the cave mouth entrance. He can feel the tension in Steve’s shoulders, but out of the corner of his eye he watches Steve plant his feet. 

Clip. Clop. 

Clip. Clop. 

“Only two,” Billy whispers. 

“What?” Steve asks, jumping a little at Billy speaking. 

“Bulls have four hooves. It should sound like four feet walking. It only sounds like two.” 

“Maybe,” Steve pauses to wet his lips, now dry with fear, “it’s not a bull?” 

To answer him, the beast steps out of the darkness. Behind them, Dustin starts to scream but someone, most likely Lucas, gets their hand over his mouth before the sound can land. It’s _not_ a bull. Not exactly. It has the body and some of the features, but it stands too tall, too big, and it _stands_ on two feet. It’s an eerie grey color, skin and not fur, and it glows with something blue and ethereal. It breathes at them, pants, and lifts one leg to kick it in the grass. It’s ready to charge them. 

Before it can Billy charges first. 

He doesn’t give some battle cry, even though he wants to. He’s waited for this. Nothing since the spiders in the mall. All day every day watching and waiting to see if there was anything breathing on him in the dark. What demons behind corners? And more than that, more than the excitement and terror of the things in The Upside Down. It’s the frustration of Steve keeping him at a distance, dragging him into this horror show and then deigning to treat him like second string. Like Billy didn’t save his life. Like Billy didn’t suck his brains out through his cock. Like Billy could not be in this as deep as Nancy or Jonathan. Steve had the audacity to let the kids be involved, on a deeper level than Billy. As if people hadn’t already died because of the things spilling out from hell into Hawkins. 

And Billy has more experience with monsters than all of them. He sleeps down the hall from one and memorizes his moods to keep damage to a minimum. Because of this he knows when a fight is coming. Because of this he knows he has to charge first. 

Because of this he lets the monster get close, running slow on two legs, not adapt to the body being upright, then he drops and slides between its legs. Baseball, 1981 to 1983 star runner and the only man on the team with so little self preservation that he’d dive for anything. 

It confuses the beast. So much so that it stumbles forward and falls on its face. Billy is up in seconds and he brings the axe down hard into its back. Black blood splatters, it gets into his mouth because he’s grinning wide at the hit. 

This is where Billy’s luck ends. The beast stands again, lifts its body and Billy is suddenly overwhelmed with how large it is. He’s never seen a bull on its hind legs but this is more than that: it is massive and it turns its eyes on him. The horns are what Billy is watching so he doesn’t see the arm come down on him. It sends him back, lands him on a rock weirdly but he doesn’t break bone. He knows what a broken bone feels like, sounds like. It is painful, though, and the beast is charging at him when a rock smacks it in the eye. Lucas is poised with his slingshot, and already loading another rock. Dustin is frantically talking into his head set, also throwing rocks put with less distance and precision than Lucas. Billy is relieved that Max isn’t charging at them with her crowbar, instead screaming challenges at the thing like she needs it to get closer to her, not the other way around. There’s something off about the crowbar but Billy is dizzy and can’t quite place it. The shape is wrong. 

Steve? 

Where is Steve? 

Steve brings the bat down into the beast’s neck and Golden Boy Harrington of course, manages not to get any blood on himself when he does it. He doesn’t keep fighting. He pulls the bat out and grabs Billy. Pulls Billy up, gets his arm around his waist and rushes him away from the beast, stumbling and snarling as rocks pelt it. 

Max is right there, feeling at him and Billy wonders if she’s concerned until she wrestles is lighter out of his pocket. 

“Max!” 

She’s gone. The thing on the end of the crowbar, Dustin’s outer shirt that she balled up and tied to the end, catches fire after two attempts and Max is running at the bull swinging the flaming torch with purpose. 

“Max!” Billy shouts again turning and jerking out of Steve’s grasp his shoulder singing out with pain at the motion. 

The bull is backing off. Backing away from her. Stepping back and snarling. It takes swings at her but they’re wild and slow and she ducks them. 

Steve hands Billy off to Dustin who wouldn’t be able to hold him if Billy was at full form but can now. Dustin goes all dead weight pulling Billy down, holding him and Lucas steps forward. Lucas’ hand is poised but he’s not firing. He’s waiting to see if Max _needs_ him too. 

Steve grabs her, hoists her over his shoulder and pulls her back. He signals for them to run and Billy stands, they do run, once Steve and Max get close enough to them. But there’s no need. The beast has retreated into the cave. 

* 

10:24 a.m. 

Steve has a big house but with all the kids and teens spilled into it it seems a little tight. Steve and Jonathan had to carry Billy up the stairs together. Billy doesn’t thank Jonathan, doesn’t want to, but that doesn’t seem to matter. Jonathan helps carry him the way he’d help an old woman carry groceries: detached and only barely morally invested. 

Jonathan is, however, very invested in _Steve’s_ well being when he, after depositing Billy onto Steve’s bed, he crouches close to Steve in the doorway and whispers, “Are you sure you want to be alone with him?” 

“It’s fine, Johnny,” Steve assures him, “I’ve got the first aid kit anyway. Just call Hop. I’ll shout if I need you.” 

Jonathan nods. Pats Steve on the shoulder. Says he’s glad they’re okay and then finally leaves them alone. 

“Okay,” Steve sighs coming to the bed and motioning at Billy, “shirt off.” 

“You must think I’m easy,” Billy replies cocking his eyebrow. 

“I _know_ you’re easy.” Steve reaches around Billy and starts to pull the shirt off himself, gentle to be careful of Billy’s injury, not with the usual rough passion that Billy could really go for right now. Seriously, they just fought a monster and won, how can Steve not have his mouth all over Billy right now? Billy licks his own lips his tongue wet with the desire. “On your stomach,” Steve commands and Billy wants to make a joke about that so bad but it would be too easy, so instead he just rolls over. 

Steve hisses, like it’s his injury, and lightly runs his fingers over it. 

“How bad is it?” Billy asks, lifting his head so he doesn’t mutter into the pillow. 

“It’s bruised. I’ll get a hot pad on it so it doesn’t swell.” 

“My dad’s gonna be pissed.” 

“Tell him you got it playing basketball,” Steve suggests, like that’s the problem. Billy already knows how to lie about injuries to his dad. He explained the knife burn away after all but that didn’t stop the beating from Neil. Telling Billy he was clumsy and useless and needed to keep his fucking shit together. He could explain this injury too but there’d still be a beating. There was always going to be a beating. At least Billy had something to fight back against now; somewhere to put all that rage. 

A hot pad is pressed into his back and Billy rolls his body into it, the heat feeling surprising but relaxing. He can hear the smile in Steve’s voice, “See? Told you heat would help.” 

“Thanks,” Billy moans, a little more sensual than is necessary but he can’t help it, his blood is hot and he can smell Steve in his pillow. 

“You know normally,” Steve says voice light, amused, “we don’t go charging and screaming at the monsters.” 

“Sorry did you want Nancy to build a bomb first?” 

“I’m just saying you can be kind of reckless. YOu know? Hence the ugly bruise purpling up your back.” 

“Is it pretty?” Billy’s voice is low. Steve’s other hand is in his hair now, stroking at the curls softly. 

“Yes,” he answers, voice low, so low, even though no one can hear them up here, even though he knows Billy _wants_ to hear him. Maybe it’s shame that keeps his voice low. But Steve doesn’t need to be ashamed. Billy likes that dark part of Steve; craves it like he craves putting an axe into a monster. 

“You can touch it more if you want,” Billy offers, “harder even. You can press into it.” 

Billy counts fifteen seconds and then the heating pad is off of him, replaced by Steve’s fingers, soft at first, like before, but then pushing down into the bruise. 

Billy hisses, moans, and rolls into the touch like before. Steve presses his palm down into the shoulder and Billy opens his mouth and whines. 

“You like it, don’t you?” Steve leans down voice heavy and warm in Billy’s ear, his free hand still stroking at his curls. Billy nods a little desperate and Steve pulls on those curls, digs his fingers in and jerks. “Say it,” he breathes. 

Billy chuckles because something about this makes him so happy. “I like it, Steve.” 

Steve presses his hand down and Billy’s skin sings with the pain webbing out, feels it tingle all the way down into his groin. When the pressure lifts, Steve’s mouth takes its place kissing gently around the injury. Billy likes this, likes anything that Steve’s mouth does, his hands, but what he likes the most is what Steve’s hand does next. 

He slides it into Billy’s jean pocket, fishes for only a moment, and pulls free the condom. Billy licks his lips, grinning in victory, as Steve pulls his jeans down. 

For just a moment, before the heat of the moment overtakes him, before all he can focus on is Steve, he realizes his own lips taste strange to him. It’s a moment before he realizes it’s blood, the monster’s blood, still wet on his lips. That’s strange, he thinks that it should have started to crust by now. The blood and battle are still so fresh in his mind, even as Steve starts to undress behind him. He lets Steve take forefront, lets him be the focus. But in his mind the beast still lingers, eyes glowing in the dark, as if waiting in the back of a cave for him to return.


End file.
